Russia Attempts To Incentivize Siberian Miners

It’s no secret that since the start of the war, Russia has faced crippling sanctions imposed on it by the United States and the broader international community.

Bitcoin maximalists and crypto pundits point out that this is the perfect use case for censorship-resistant money, as nations no longer need to be concerned with being locked out of SWIFT—the current international standard for cross-border payments.

The Russian government seems to agree, and since the start of the conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, crypto has played a major role in both embattled countries.

Everything from weapons funding, cross-border remittances, and relief efforts have been spearheaded using digital currencies and assets.

Now the Russian government is moving to incentivize Siberian crypto mining operations.

Russian authorities are reportedly investing $12 million into a Siberian mining effort and will also offer a lower income tax burden, a tax-free basis for the land & property, and subsidized electricity for the mining operation:

JUST IN: The 🇷🇺 Russian government is offering incentives and investing $12 million in a Siberian #crypto mining operation to show support for #cryptocurrency and counteract sanctions.

— Coingraph | News (@CoingraphNews) February 9, 2023

AMB Crypto had more details on one such facility:

The new facility will house 30,000 mining machines, employ 100 people, and draw 100 megawatts from the power grid. It will open in the first half of 2023. Trover, Russia’s largest provider of crypto-mining co-location services, will own and operate the center.

The mining center will enjoy a broad set of incentives, from zero land and property taxes to a lowered rate of income tax. The electricity prices will be cut by half for the mining operator. https://t.co/2k3lwQclEH

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) February 9, 2023

Crippling sanctions have reportedly led to a boom in Russian crypto users. Bitcoin News claims that the number of Russian crypto addresses has doubled since the sanctions were introduced.

Additionally, late last year, Russia and Iran reportedly announced plans to issue gold-backed stablecoins.

Supply of #crypto #exchange accounts for #Russian users doubles in a year of sanctions. https://t.co/Ee9cExmidJ

— Bitcoin News (@BTCTN) January 31, 2023

Crypto News writes:

The Russian government has changed its anti-crypto stance, particularly on mining, since the start of the Russian war with Ukraine and the ensuing financial sanctions.

Russians significantly increased their ASIC crypto-mining equipment purchases, according to a Kommersant study from the fourth quarter released on Dec. 1, 2022. Although the supply is still strong and is anticipated to increase, the low electricity and equipment prices have sparked a buying frenzy.

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